Category Archives: Ecampus Students

Twelve years ago, Ingrid Scheel burned out in an engineering program and worked part time filing papers at a small fiber optic technology firm. You wouldn’t have predicted her future success. But now Ingrid holds two college degrees. Those papers she used to file? Now she signs them as the company’s vice president. And to keep the firm on the leading edge of producing hair-thin micro sensors, she’s pursuing an engineering management master’s degree 100% online with Oregon State University Ecampus.

After she dropped out of high school to meet the demands of parenthood, Rachel Hensley’s passions for community and cultural engagement led her to rediscover her educational path through Oregon State University Ecampus’ anthropology program. After an Oregon State faculty-led study abroad trip to Guatemala, Rachel’s set her sights on pursuing a law degree that will allow her to work toward international human rights.

Who better to help make recommendations about online education than students actually enrolled in the programs? Oregon State’s resounding answer: no one. With their eyes on the emergent future of online learning, Ecampus faculty and students are leaving their mark as members of the Oregon State University Online Education Committee.

What if part of your teacher education included an intensive, 2-year residency inside a public school where you co-taught with – and were mentored by – a seasoned teacher from day one? (Think medical school residencies, but in schools instead of hospitals.) A newly-launched, graduate program is doing this, and more.

One of the most important items in any parent’s toolkit is the ability to adapt to unexpected change. It’s how we get another meal on the table within minutes of our children spilling their mac and cheese on the floor. Kristen Dhuse discovered the importance of parental improvisation as soon as she and her husband, Ryan, learned they were expecting a child in 2014. Kristen was a successful engineer in the greater Seattle area and had devised a plan to put her professional life on hold while she returned to school in hopes of becoming a software developer.

How old were you when you discovered your dream job? Many of us are still trying to figure it out. Not Jason Deger. He knew at a young age – thanks to camping trips with his dad in national parks – that he would someday be a park ranger. It wasn’t a matter of debate. It was a matter of time. And it took years. But he never wavered in his pursuit.

At Oregon State University Ecampus, we think the world becomes a better place when everyone, everywhere has the opportunity to earn an education and pursue their ambitions. Ecampus is your outlet to get you there – out there, across the globe, solving the world’s most pressing problems.

“I decided to go back to school to earn my degree because my wife, Courtney, and I got married and we were having a child, and I wanted to move up in the company I was working for,” says economics alum Eric Broadfoot. “Given all of those aspects, I knew it was very important to finish my education.”

As an OSU Ecampus fisheries and wildlife sciences online student with a specialization in avian biology, Megan Blackwell wanted to stand out among her peers and knew adding club participation to her résumé would do just that.